In a typical railcar, the entire weight of the railcar is carried on two center plates secured to two body bolsters which engage matching bowls on cooperating truck bolsters. As a result, the center plates are subject to the weight of the car and load as well as the dynamics of a loaded, moving car.
A typical center plate is installed in a square or rectangular opening on the undercarriage. The center plate often has leveling feet located at each corner. The center plate is typically secured to the undercarriage by welding between the leveling feet.
One drawback of current center plates is that because of the location of the leveling feet, four separate welds must be made to secure the center plate to the undercarriage. This design does not lend itself to modern manufacturing methods such as robotic welders which are generally better at making continuous welds rather than intermittent welds.
Another drawback of a conventional center plate is that because of its generally symmetrical configuration, it is possible to install the center plate with the wrong orientation. This leads to added costs when the center plate has to be removed and rewelded. Misalignment is also a potential hazard if the misalignment goes unnoticed and a misaligned center plate is used in an operational railcar.
Finally, conventional center plates fit into the undercarriage in such a way that they cannot be welded to the inside of the undercarriage even if the inside of the undercarriage was readily accessible.